The present disclosure relates to computing systems, and, in particular, to management of application programs processed by user terminals.
Users can install a myriad of different types of application programs (also commonly referred to as “applications” and “apps”) on user terminals having widely varying software and hardware characteristics. For example, users can select from among several million different applications available on various application servers for downloading to cellular telephones (sometimes called “smart phones”), tablet computers, laptop computers, and other types of user terminals for processing. Over a billion Apple IOS user terminals and Android user terminals are presently being used throughout the world.
Application operational behavior can be highly unpredictable from a user perspective. An application may appear to be operating incorrectly, responding sluggishly, and/or crashed (e.g., not responding to user input). There are many reasons application operation can become unpredictable. A user may provide erroneous input to the application or may not be able to effectively operate the application. Application operation requires access to resources located on the user terminal and which can also be remotely located in network servers or other networked devices. Other applications executing on the mobile terminal and communication problems can delay or prevent application access to such resources. Moreover, users are able to limit resource permissions of an application, which can further interfere with application operation. Such operational unpredictability detracts from the user's experience and can result in low application usage and poor recommendations to others.